Prince William and Kate and King Charles carried out royal engagements today amid a war of words with Princess Diana‘s brother Earl Spencer over his bombshell new memoir.

The public events this afternoon came hours after Buckingham Palace issued an extraordinary statement in response to the explosive book by the earl, the first extract of which will be published at 5pm today on the Daily Mail website and apps.

The book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, describes a devastating row he had with Charles in the days after Diana died. 

In a riposte that sent shockwaves through royal circles today, Charles’s aides acidly suggested that grief can ‘cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory’.

This was seen as a barbed echo of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s famous ‘recollections may vary’ retort to Harry and Meghan after their Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021.

The palace statement said: ‘While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.’

Despite the war of words, senior royals carried on with pre-booked engagements today – with Princess Anne opening a history centre in Staffordshire and the Duchess of Edinburgh continuing her visit to Zambia.

Today, it also emerged that Prince Harry was aware of the memoir, having discussed it with his uncle during his visit to Althorp with Meghan two months ago.

The Daily Mail understands Harry was given advance warning about the bombshell book. But he has not read it, a source close to him said.

The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive for a visit to the Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay today

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Prince William and Kate arrive for a visit to the Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay this afternoon

The King shakes hands with Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo at Dumfries House today

The Duke of Sussex and Charles Spencer reportedly discussed the book when he stayed at Althorp in July.

During that visit, Harry made an emotional pilgrimage to the grave of Diana, Princess of Wales, with Meghan, Archie and Lilibet on the Northamptonshire estate where she grew up. Meghan shared an image of their poignant walk to her final resting place, as their children carried bouquets of flowers.

In the book, the earl claims that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, subjected him to a ‘stream of anger’ after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.

According to an excerpt, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s senior aides told him that William and Harry were to walk in the procession, prompting the earl to state, ‘that’s not going to happen’.

Charles called minutes later and told him that 18 years earlier he had walked in the funeral procession of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, it is claimed.

In the book, the earl claims: ‘Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped.

‘I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured’, he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’.’

The King’s remarkable statement disputing Earl Spencer’s claims reveals the depth of the his anger, especially because the Palace ignored Prince Harry’s book Spare, according to experts. 

ITV royal editor Chris Ship said he was ‘not expecting’ the Palace to respond, but that ‘what became very clear from seeing that statement is they’re not going to take this one lying down’.

‘I know that Harry’s aware of what his uncle has written in this book. And we also know that Harry stayed with Charles Spencer when he was over in the summer and had a big family gathering,’ he said.

‘They must have spoken about the fact this was going to come out and the things that he was going to say about his father.’

King Charles III walks with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang at Dumfries House today

Charles gives a speech during a meeting at Dumfries House for AI leaders this afternoon

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The Princess Royal lays a wreath in the Cannock Chase War Cemetery in Staffordshire today

The Duchess of Edinburgh continues her visit to Zambia today. She is pictured there yesterday

Earl Spencer speaks with Prince Charles after a banquet in Cape Town on November 4, 1997

Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles walk outside Westminster Abbey during the funeral procession for Princess Diana on September 6, 1997

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Charles and Diana on their last official trip together to South Korea in November 1992

The Prince and Princess of Wales, who also hold the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, took a trip to their namesake town of Rothesay as they carried out three engagements. 

Also in Scotland, the King hosted an artificial intelligence summit at Dumfries House, as he aimed to seek reassurance amid concerns about the future of AI and addressed bosses from leading AI developers including Nvidia, Anthropic and OpenAI.

The King told delegates: ‘The development of AI – its substance and its pace – are both intriguing and deeply concerning in equal measure.’

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, Google DeepMind founder Sir Demis Hassabis and IonQ chairman and chief executive Niccolo de Masi were among those attending.

Paolo Benanti, who is an adviser to the Pope on issues of AI and technology ethics, was also there.

The event was overseen by the Ditchley Foundation, an organisation that brings leaders with diverse views together to address complex challenges, which has drawn up a draft charter for AI leaders.

Extracted from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister by Charles Spencer, to be published by Michael Joseph on September 22, £28. © Charles Spencer 2026. To order a copy for £23.80 (offer valid to 10/10/26; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. 

Human remains discovered in woodland in south-west London following a wildfire are those of a Southampton mother-of-three who disappeared nearly seven years ago, police said.The Metropolitan Police were called on the evening of August 12 after bones, thought to belong to a woman aged between 25 and 45, were found near Padstow Walk in Feltham after the area was affected by a blaze.Detectives had launched a murder probe, but Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary have now taken over the investigation after the remains were identified as those of Joanne Sheen, the Press Association has learned.A 56-year-old man from Southampton was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder on Thursday, and remains in police custody.Ms Sheen, 44, had not been seen since she travelled from Fareham, Hampshire, heading to her home city of Southampton, on December 5 2019.She was reported missing by her family in February 2020.The discovery came after extensive forensic examination and DNA testing of the remains.A Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary spokesperson told PA that more than 4,000 lines of enquiry have been raised, more than 300 statements taken, and detailed searches carried out at more than 10 addresses and on numerous vessels.Specialist teams have also searched waterways and woodland around Southampton.The spokesperson added: “As part of our investigation, we have today arrested a 56-year-old man from Southampton on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder. He remains in custody at this time as our enquiries continue.“As our investigation enters this next stage, we are working closely with our colleagues in the Metropolitan Police to establish exactly what happened to Joanne.“Her death is being treated as murder, and we remain committed to identifying and bringing those responsible to justice.”Detective Chief Inspector Toby Elcock, from the major crime team, said: “This is a significant development in what has been a long and complex investigation and provides us with several new lines of

An ICE agent accused of shooting a Venezuelan man through an apartment door and then lying about what happened has been arrested in Minneapolis, eight months after the incident became a flashpoint in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Christian Castro was taken into custody Wednesday by agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and booked into the Hennepin County jail on an outstanding arrest warrant.

Castro faces state assault and false reporting charges stemming from the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, who was wounded in the leg while children were inside the home.

Prosecutors allege Castro falsely told Department of Homeland Security officials that Sosa-Celis and others attacked him with a snow shovel and broom before he opened fire. Authorities say video evidence contradicted that account.

Castro has also been federally charged with lying to investigators about the shooting, making him the first federal law enforcement officer prosecuted by the Justice Department over alleged wrongdoing connected to Operation Metro Surge, the Trump administration’s massive immigration enforcement deployment in Minneapolis.

Castro was released on bond from federal custody earlier this month after an appearance in McAllen, Texas.

His attorney Daniel Gerdts said Castro had agreed to drive from Texas to Minneapolis and surrender at his lawyer’s office Wednesday, but authorities arrested him minutes before he arrived.

Another attorney, Rolando Cantu, said Castro always intended to face the Minnesota charges and disputed prosecutors’ claims that he might flee to Mexico.

“He wants his day in court,” Cantu said.

The shooting occurred during Operation Metro Surge, which sparked weeks of protests and confrontations between federal immigration officers and demonstrators. Two US citizens were fatally shot by federal agents during the operation.

After the January shooting, Castro returned to his home state of Texas, prompting Minnesota authorities to seek his extradition.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refused to sign extradition papers sent by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, questioning whether Castro could legally be considered a fugitive because DHS had reassigned him to Texas.

Castro spent 90 days in a Texas county jail before being released Aug. 27 after a federal judge rejected Minnesota’s request to immediately compel his extradition. He was arrested again following his federal indictment in early September.

DHS has suspended Castro from ICE, and a civil rights investigation into the shooting has also been opened.

Castro was expected to make his first appearance on the Minnesota charges Thursday before appearing in federal court in St. Paul on Friday.

“Governor Abbott’s attempt to shield Mr. Castro from accountability has failed,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. “We look forward to commencing our prosecution.”

Australian HYROX athlete Joanna Wietrzyk has issued a public apology after continuing to compete in the endurance race after soiling herself.

Wietrzyk, 24, refused to stop competing despite streams of faeces flowing down her legs as she powered to victory during the gruelling event in Beijing on Saturday.

The Melbourne athlete’s decision to push on sparked ferocious criticism of the athletic competition for allowing Wietrzyk to continue competing.

Wietrzyk issued a statement on Thursday revealing she’d forfeited her win at the event and apologising to other competitors. 

‘I want to offer my sincere apology to the people of China, my fellow competitors, the spectators and the HYROX organizers for what happened during the race in Beijing,’ Wietrzyk wrote on Instagram.

‘I felt completely fit and healthy at the start of the race, with no reason to expect any illness. 

‘Looking back, I regret the decision to not have stepped off the track. I recognize that I should have made a different choice. 

‘I take responsibility for my decision to continue and am deeply sorry for the discomfort and disruption it caused.’

Wietrzyk (above) forfeited her win at the event and apologised to other competitors

Wietrzyk said she’d reflected on the incident and was ‘genuinely sorry to everyone who was affected’.

‘I am learning from this experience and will carry those lessons with me, including remembering that there is more to life than racing and knowing when it is right to step away,’ she wrote.

‘On reflection, I have decided to retroactively withdraw from the race and forfeit the points I earned.’

The Melbourne athlete then thanked those who supported her during the days of backlash following the event. 

‘Thank you to those standing by me, both as an athlete and as a person, during this time, and to everyone who has reached out with kindness and support,’ Wietrzyk wrote.

‘It means more to me than I can properly express right now. I will be taking some time to recover, reflect and look after myself and my family away from the noise.’

The incident on Saturday prompted HYROX co-founder Moritz Fürste to issue a personal statement pledging to implement immediate rule changes.

Prior to the weekend’s incident, official event rules punished athletes for minor infringements such as littering on the course or clearing their nose on the floor. 

Massive backlash from the incident (above) prompted HYROX co-founder Moritz Fürste to issue a personal statement pledging to implement immediate rule changes

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There were no rules relating to faecal matter.

Wietrzyk’s statement drew hundreds of comments within minutes of being uploaded.

Commenters were deeply divided on whether the apology was sincere or the result of public pressure.

‘This apology is just not good enough, not least because it has come far too late … Truly terrible sportsmanship putting your fellow athletes health at serious risk, never mind the spectators and volunteers,’ one wrote.

‘Hindsight is a wonderful thing but during that moment and time nobody knows exactly how they would have reacted,’ another said.

‘A real person would’ve apologised the same day. Not after almost a week later,’ another wrote. 

‘True actions of a fighter, not many people understand the mindset of the best in the world,’ another said.

Wietrzyk turned off comments under the statement, and her other posts, within an hour of sharing it. 

The Melbourne athlete had initially shared a post following her accident declaring ‘a win is a win’ but later removed it and refused to publicly comment on the situation.

Her coach, Chris Bayens, shared a statement on Monday calling out ‘hatred and personal attacks’ on Wietrzyk.

‘The mental health of athletes is shaped far more by the community around them, and right now that community should take a hard look at itself,’ Bayens wrote.

‘No one is perfect, not in sport, not on social media, not in real life. What happened was extraordinary. The hatred that has followed is ugly.’

Bayens vowed to continue supporting her and stressed that no one was prepared for what happened and that the decision to continue was made on the fly. 

‘Decisions were made under competition conditions by an athlete, judges and officials, all responding to a situation none of them could reasonably have prepared for,’ he said.

‘It is very easy to construct the perfect response once the moment has passed. Hindsight gives people time, information and distance that simply did not exist for those actually living it.

‘Those decisions can be reviewed and lessons can be taken from them. But judging someone’s intent, character or morality through the clarity of hindsight is neither fair nor honest.’

– READ MORE: Aussie HYROX athlete is suddenly deleted from sponsor Puma’s global website 

His absence ahead of the short trip to the Gtech Community Stadium is a massive concern for Alonso, who said only at Thursday’s pre-Brentford press conference: “In terms of injuries and in terms of the squad, we are having the last training session tomorrow so no one is ruled out. We will wait till tomorrow.”

Written under the pen name James Herriot, Wight’s stories are inspired by his real-life experiences as a veterinary surgeon in the Yorkshire Dales.

The series is set in the fictional town of Darrowby.

The Channel 5 adaptation, which began in 2020, is the second television version of the books, following the original BBC series that ran from 1978 to 1990.

The new series picks up in 1946, just after the end of the Second World War.

A synopsis in the Radio Times reads: “James (Nicholas Ralph) and Siegfried (Samuel West) must contend with the arrival of new vet, Granville Bennett (Caolan McCarthy), while Helen (Rachel Shenton) is forced to have a frank conversation with her dad Richard (Tony Pitts) about the future of the farm.”

It continues: “Elsewhere, Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley) must adjust to Siegfried and Dorothy’s (Maimie McCoy) deepening relationship, while Tristan’s (Callum Woodhouse) relationship with Charlotte (Gaia Wise) is threatened by the prospect of her potentially leaving.”

Samuel West, who plays Siegfried, hinted at developments between his character and his brother Tristan, played by Callum Woodhouse.

Speaking to the Radio Times, he shared: “The professional respect is made clear in this series, and I think Siegfried’s own sense of Tristan has stopped him really thinking of him in that way before.

“Eventually the evidence is clear that he’s turned into a very good vet.

“There is a moment of big change between them, and it’s overdue.”

All Creatures Great and Small full cast list for series 7

• Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot
• Rachel Shenton as Helen Herriot
• Callum Woodhouse as Tristan Farnon
• Samuel West as Siegfried Farnon
• Thomas Riches as Jimmy Herriot
• Isabella Ward as Rosie Herriot
• Anna Madeley as Mrs Hall
• Maimie McCoy as Dorothy
• Gaia Wise as Charlotte Beauvoir

• Patricia Hodge as Mrs Pumphrey
• Tony Pitts as Richard Alderson
• Imogen Clawson as Jenny Alderson
• Mollie Winnard as Maggie
• Caolan McCarthy as Granville Bennett
• Jade Greyul as Zoe Bennett
• Bruce Alexander as Geoff Hatfield
• Michaela Short as Mrs Townsend
• Geoff Lesley as Grandad Hollins
• Howard Harling as Mr Hollins
• Wendy Patterson as Irene Sparrow

Recommended reading:

When will All Creatures Great and Small series 7 be on TV?

The first episode of All Creatures Great and Small series seven will air at 9pm on Thursday, September 17 on Channel 5.

The remaining five episodes will air weekly in the same timeslot.

Episodes will also be available to watch on Channel 5’s streaming service.

Will you be watching the latest series of All Creatures Great and Small? Let us know in the comments.

In the book – Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, serialised in the Daily Mail – the earl claims that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, subjected him to a “stream of anger” after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.

Scientists are perplexed by the discovery of what looks like footprints on the surface of Mars.

Images captured by the Curiosity Rover show an unusual feature on the Red Planet’s surface – broad, shallow pits unlike anything researchers have previously spotted.

The discovery was made as Curiosity explored Mount Sharp, a vast mountain rising from the floor of Gale Crater.

The rover has been exploring Mars since landing in 2012, and despite more than a decade on the planet, it continues to find things that puzzle scientists back on Earth.

Small pits and depressions are relatively common on Mars. They can form when harder nodules or pebbles embedded in rock gradually weather away, leaving a hollow behind.

But the newly observed features are different. They are much wider and shallower than similar pits seen previously, and researchers could not identify obvious objects that might once have occupied them.

The Curiosity team used the rover’s cameras and instruments to examine the features in detail.
MAHLI and the Mastcam instrument captured overlapping images that can be combined to produce three-dimensional models of the pits and their structure.

The team does not believe the marks are actual footprints, but the unusual formations provide a new clue about the geological processes that have shaped this part of Mount Sharp.

The surrounding bedrock also provided plenty for Curiosity’s instruments to investigate. Mastcam images and measurements from the ChemCam instrument revealed layers whose texture and structure changed over relatively short distances.

Scientists say these variations could indicate changes in the conditions under which the sediments were deposited.

The rover also examined rough, grey layers that were more resistant to erosion than the surrounding rock. ChemCam, MAHLI and the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) analysed the material, which may have a different chemical composition from the bedrock around it.

After almost 14 years on Mars, Curiosity continues to provide scientists with new glimpses of the planet’s geological history – and, occasionally, features they have never seen before.

In an image taken in 2013, UFO hunters thought they’d spotted a wrinkly mushroom on the planet’s surface.

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